Bank of America's Dead Drop To Rick Perry: “We Will Help You Out”  —  Should we be surprised, frightened, disgusted or simply say “we knew it”, that in the informal mixer just after Texas Governor and Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry spoke at a Politics and Eggs breakfast in Bedford …

Michelle's Separate Travel Costs Taxpayers Thousands  —  Michelle Obama and President Obama traveled to Martha's Vineyard just hours apart, costing taxpayers thousands in additional expenses so she could have just a bit of extra vacation time.  —  Mrs. Obama and her daughters arrived …

Arizona sheriff promises Obama-eligibility probe  —  Lawman responds to request from local tea-party leaders  —  MARICOPA COUNTY, Ariz. - At the request of tea-party leaders in Arizona, famed Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio has agreed to examine evidence challenging the validity …

Paul Ryan's Office Calls Cops On Jobless Protesters … Staffers for Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) called police on Thursday evening to disperse unemployed protesters staging a sit-in at his Kenosha, Wis., office, according to the protesters and police.  —  Two protesters told HuffPost they're unhappy …

O'Donnell's reaction to Piers Morgan was ‘downright bizarre’  —  Editor's note: L. Brent Bozell is the president of the Media Research Center, a conservative media watchdog organization, and the founder of CNSNews.com, an online news service with an emphasis on investigative journalism.

Darrell Issa Sticks It to the Times  —  Darrell Issa is a brilliant businessman who made a lot of money the old-fashioned way: he earned it, rather than marrying or inheriting it as so many Democratic politicians do.  Which is another way of saying that he is just the kind of man we need in Washington.

Iowa Politics Insider: Palin event switches site to handle crowd  —  Sarah Palin's Sept. 3 event has been relocated from Waukee to Indianola to better accommodate a larger crowd, organizers said.  —  Palin is the keynote speaker at the Tea Party of America's “Restoring America” event, which is free and open to the public.

The 50 Richest Members of Congress (2011)  —  To determine the richest lawmakers, Roll Call adds up the minimum value of total assets reported by each Member on their annual financial disclosures and subtracts the minimum liabilities.  Percent change refers to the change since last year's disclosure forms.

Thousands Camp Out for Job Fair as Jobless Rate Rises  —  Thousands of unemployed waited overnight, camping out in their business suits and office heels and braving the tormenting heat in Atlanta to stand in line for a job fair Thursday.  Authorities treated 20 people for heat exhaustion …

West Memphis Three  — WEST MEMPHIS 3 - TITANS TRAINING CAMP - OVERTON SQUARE - THE EARLY YEARS - BASTED DAYS AND PASTED NIGHTS  —  All members of the West Memphis Three will be released today after pleading guilty to first-degree murder charges in the 1993 deaths of three West Memphis 8-year-olds.

Funder For Travel To Glenn Beck's Jerusalem Rally Criticized For Speaking To Anti-Semitic Groups  —  Glenn Beck's upcoming rally to “Restore Courage” has run into a snag after House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and the House Ethics Committee rejected the request by a number of House members …

Barton: Gay Rights Are “Impossible,” People Are Poor Because They're Not Religious  —  Today on WallBuilders Live, David Barton and co-host Rick Green trumpeted their opposition to gay rights and reproductive rights, as Barton previously argued that God will hold you accountable if you vote for a pro-equality or pro-choice candidate.

Confidence in Obama, and in the Economy, Declines  —  Markets “go up and down,” the White House press secretary Jay Carney noted this month.  So do presidential approval ratings.  But the trendline for President Obama has been poor.  —  His Gallup approval rating has twice fallen below 40 percent within …

Obama's Base Problem  —  There's been plenty of bad news for Barack Obama this month in the form of his approval numbers, but our polling finds that his problems go deeper than that.  Democratic enthusiasm about voting in next year's election has hit a record low this month.

Why Bam's doomed  —  Unless something extraordinarily dramatic comes along to change the course of the US economy and the sentiments of the American people in the next six months, Barack Obama is finished.  —  That conclusion is inescapable from the history of US presidential politics since 1945.

U.S. forces to stay in Iraq into 2012, says Leon Panetta  —  Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Iraq's government has agreed to extend the U.S. military presence in the country beyond 2011 - but Iraq quickly rejected the claim.  —  The word from Panetta, during an interview with Stars & Stripes …